Origin of the project
In 2002, the Can Mata urban landfill, located about 40 km from Barcelona, was seriously threatened. The plant could not exhaust all the biogas (methane) generated because the electrical infrastructure (cogeneration engines) could not absorb it all. The biogas surplus therefore had to be burned with safety torches, resulting in bad odours and growing discomfort in the immediate urban environment.

The resulting social pressure was about to force the closure of the landfill when someone proposed the possibility of supplying biogas to a nearby ceramics plant— CERÁMICA PIERA in Hostalets de Pierola (Barcelona). The idea was that the ceramics plant, located just 1.5 km from the landfill, would consume almost all the biogas extracted daily from the landfill. The rest would be transformed into electricity by the landfill itself, resulting in no more bad odours in the environment.

The Cerámica Pierola website reports the computation of CO2 emissions saved by the use of biogas.

Execution of the project
The management of CERÁMICA PIERA contacted BERALMAR to develop the necessary combustion equipment, which had to be designed with two premises:

They had to be dual (natural gas/biogas) and with automatic fuel switching, so that in the event of a biogas pressure drop in a specific set of burner units, they would switch to natural gas.

They had to be constructed with materials resistant to methane’s strong corrosive power.

Under these two premises, in 2003 Beralmar supplied CERÁMICA PIERA with all the combustion equipment of two tunnel kilns and two dryers. In 2006 the experience was repeated with the factory’s third production line. The dual units were made of stainless steel, fitted with special valves and seals.

Conclusions
The implementation of biogas combustion equipment in CERÁMICA PIEROLA’s three kilns and three dryers was a success in every way and for all parties involved—the ceramics plant, BERALMAR, the landfill and the environment. The ceramics plant enjoys significant energy cost savings and can now claim to be thoroughly environmentally-friendly in its production. BERALMAR had a new opportunity to demonstrate its versatility in the design of combustion equipment for any fuel, and was awarded the Innovation Award by the Terrassa Chamber of Commerce. Finally, the urban environment of the Can Mata landfill saw their problems solved at once, while the landfill that was doomed to closure continues to operate to this day.

The next case study will be published in Newsletter no. 120 on November 2017.